The two defeats conceded during the last two trips to Tours (75-90) and Fougères (84-88) simply stopped the possibility for Cep Lorient to project themselves forward. Second in the standings two weeks ago, Pascal Thibaud’s squad now finds itself in fifth place, tied on points with the last two teams they have just met.
It was the thing Pascal Thibaud feared, and the Lorientais unfortunately missed a great opportunity to outrun two direct opponents to finish among the first seven in the group. And these two defeats will count for the new classification which will be made in mid-February by the Federation with the first seven clubs in the Eastern zone which will be qualified during the second phase of the single-pool championship to play for promotion to Pro B.
We are still far from all that and the Breton team needs to regain momentum this evening, with the reception of a Toulouse team eager to join the fight to finish in the top 7. With two points from late, Stade Toulousain sometimes has surprising results, and the recent victory in Tours last weekend (88-81) is the perfect illustration. It simply erases the few poor performances recorded elsewhere: defeats against Poissy and Challans. Proof above all that Toulouse still has difficulty achieving series, obligatory to return to the first part of the table.
“We are very wary of this Toulouse team which has just recruited Junior Ouattara, who was part of the Hyères Toulou team, champion of the division last season. He played nearly 27 minutes on average per game, warns Pascal Thibaud, the Lorient coach. He replaces the American Tyreece Brice, and we will need to put out a big performance to win against a team that beat us in the first leg. It will inevitably be a match under pressure because the stakes, once again, will be high. And it is necessary to understand this pressure so that the team performs of quality…”
The group. Franceschi, Robin, Henry, Mondésir, Sclear, Williams, Benoit, Dohou, Vitale Boiteux, Cristini, Gueye. Coach : Pascal Thibaud.
